My Presentation at the Central Exchange

I gave a seminar at the Central Exchange for 50 women last week. The topic was “Help, I Want to Decorate My Home, But how can I do that in today’s Economy?” I gave many of the design tips I give in my blog. I had many of the women contact me to say thanks. I gave them concrete ideas and gave them much to think about. I know that we all want to make changes in our homes, but we are not sure that we can do them to the extent we would have a year ago. We can have a design plan and budget, and know which direction we want to go, and make the changes slowly. For instance, we do not have to change all the appliances at one time. We can change them slowly as they no longer work or serve us in the way we would like them to work. When we lived in Europe, the philosophy there is that you loved what you purchased and you lived with it for a long time. They purchased good quality and they were both happy and proud of what they bought. We paid cash for every purchase and therefore planned a long time ahead for every major purchase.

With my clients I would prefer to wait and have the budget and styles designed & specified and then make the purchases over a period of time. It is easy to go out and buy cheap furniture because we want it now, but it does not last and many times we realize that if we had waited and planned and saved we could have purchased what we really wanted. I remember my father saying to me “We don’t remember what the cost difference was; we remember that we didn’t get what we really wanted”.

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Have a great Thanksgiving,

Arlene

Freshening up with a budget!

There are many ways to freshen up areas throughout your home without having a large budget. One area in particular is the kitchen, typically a high traffic area where everyone spends part of their day. As a general rule I would recommend making a list of the things that must go and other things that can be worked with. This is where a professional opinion will always be useful and will allow you to look at your kitchen from a different point of view. Some focus areas to consider updating are: paint color, cabinetry, countertops, backsplash, and appliances. A simple coat of paint can change the feeling of a room, and can guide the color palette of the rest of the area. Cabinets can be given a lift by replacing some traditional doors with seeded glass inserts and adding a small amount of accent lighting. The largest impact will be made by new countertops, whether you select granite or solid surface the color selection is endless. If your countertops are in good condition but you need a little color around your cabinetry the backsplash area can accent any kitchen beautifully. Natural stone or porcelain tile will add texture to and depth to the area. In updating your kitchen not all appliances may need to be replaced, choose the appliances that would make the most impact, such a refrigerator and dishwasher, the wall oven may be updated at a later date. A personal touch can be added to your cabinetry by selecting hardware that fits the style of, your new kitchen.

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